Illinois trans athlete conflict grows after tense track meet as state Republicans call for Trump's help
By Jackson Thompson
Published May 21, 2025
Tensions are mounting over trans athletes in girls' sports in Illinois, as the state continues to allow males to compete against and beat out females in sports across the state.
A youth track meet became the focus of national controversy after a biological male competed in the seventh-grade competition against girls at the Naper Prairie Conference Meet last Wednesday. The incident prompted a series of heated debates, which went viral on social media, at the Naperville 203 Community School District Board meeting on Monday.
Now, Illinoisans are speaking out, calling for President Donald Trump to crack down on the state and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to protect girls' sports.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., has addressed a second letter to the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice asking for federal intervention into the issue. Miller previously sent a letter earlier in May and is now doubling-down on her pleas for the Trump administration to step in.
Miller's latest letter asks U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Education Secretary Linda McMahon to specifically look into the Naperville incident and consider pulling federal funding from the state, as seen in a copy obtained by Fox News Digital.
"The Illinois Governor has made our beautiful state unfair and unsafe for women and girls by allowing men to compete in their sports and to use their showers and locker rooms. It is my strong opinion that any school district that allows these actions to continue should have its federal funds reviewed immediately for revocation," Miller wrote. "Ultimately, it is my understanding that violations of Title IX may have taken place at this track and field meet, and I write to bring this grave incident to your attention."
Illinois GOP state Rep. Blaine Wilhour is also calling for a federal investigation and potential consequences in the wake of the Naperville incident.
"President Trump should freeze every penny of federal dollars until these schools come to their senses and do right by these kids," Wilhour told Fox News Digital. "Either you believe in fairness, biological reality and common sense, or you don't. This is not fair competition and Naperville 203 is engaged in what I consider abusive and illegal practices in violation of title 9. Wake up people, these are Jr. High kids being exploited and used as political pawns, and it's disgusting."
TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND
Wilhour was previously a leader in putting pressure on the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) to comply with Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order that was signed on Feb. 5. However, the state's Democrat leaders ensured the IHSA defied Trump on the issue.
In a public letter to Wilhour and other state GOP lawmakers, the IHSA said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Illinois Department of Human Rights have declared that state law requires that transgender athletes be allowed to participate based on gender identity.
So girls around the state and their families have had to continue sharing teams and locker rooms with biological males, as they have since 2006.
Even Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher has spoken out on the issue while his home state is ravaged by controversy.
"It's just different because we are men, there are certain things we do better than women, and it's just, number one, it's not fair, and if I had a daughter who had to be forced to play against a man, I would not be okay with it and I would raise hell about it," Urlacher said during an interview on the "Global View" podcast on May 9. "I just don't get it, it's a common sense thing, I just don't see how you can push this and make someone thing they're a different sex."
Currently, there is one federal Title IX probe in Illinois regarding transgenders impeding on female spaces, but it is only against one school.
Deerfield Public Schools District 109 is facing a probe by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights after middle school girls were allegedly forced by school administrators to change in front of a trans student in the girls' locker room.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Illinois mother Nicole Georgas brought light to the situation in March after filing a complaint to the Justice Department and then delivering a school board meeting speech that went viral on social media.
Now, Georgas is looking for more action to be taken as the issue continues to plague girls' sports in Illinois and hopes the recent Naperville incident will be a turning point. She is pleading for the president's administration to bring more pressure to Illinois on the issue.
"The tides are going to turn after this. We as the parents have had enough," Georgas told Fox News Digital. "We are at the forefront, we are in the crosshairs and we need help. We need help right now. In our state nothing has changed from March, and it's getting worse!
"They're using these kids to just almost test President Trump because they know they're not doing anything. They've forgotten about Illinois. They've forgotten about us."
Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter . Print Close
URL
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/illinois-trans-athlete-conflict-grows-after-tense-track-meet-state-republicans-call-trumps-help
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US government in talks to acquire stake in Intel
The Trump administration is engaged in discussions with Intel regarding a potential investment in the chipmaker, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the matter. Details regarding the size of the proposed investment remain unspecified. However; such a deal could provide essential support for Intel's ambitious factory hub project in Ohio, which the company had previously aimed to establish as the largest chip manufacturing facility globally, although this initiative has faced numerous delays. These negotiations come on the heels of President Donald Trump's recent call for the removal of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, whom he has described as 'highly conflicted' due to concerns over his previous associations with China. The current discussions are said to have originated from a recent meeting between President Trump and Tan. While specifics are still being worked out, one source indicated that the US government would finance the investment. Another source warned that the discussions are still in a preliminary stage and may not result in a formal agreement. In response to the news, Intel's shares rose by as much as 8.9% on 14 August 2025, ultimately closing 7.4% higher at $23.86, giving the company a market capitalisation of approximately $104.4bn, the report added. The stock continued to increase by an additional 4% in after-hours trading. 'Discussion about hypothetical deals should be regarded as speculation unless officially announced by the administration,' Bloomberg quoted White House spokesman Kush Desai as saying. Intel has chosen not to comment on the ongoing discussions. A representative stated that the company is 'deeply committed to supporting President Trump's efforts to strengthen US technology and manufacturing leadership' and expressed a willingness to continue working with the Trump administration on shared goals, while refraining from commenting on speculation. An agreement would provide a financial boost to Intel at a time when the company is implementing cost-cutting measures and workforce reductions. It also suggests that Tan is likely to remain in his role as CEO. This situation represents another instance of the Trump administration's direct involvement in a key industry. Previously, the administration reached an agreement to receive a 15% cut of certain semiconductor sales to China and took a so-called golden share in United States Steel Corp. as part of a deal to facilitate its sale to a Japanese competitor. The discussions regarding Intel also reflect a recent announcement from the Defense Department, which disclosed plans to take a $400m preferred equity stake in US rare-earth producer MP Materials Corp., thereby making the Pentagon the largest shareholder in the company. "US government in talks to acquire stake in Intel" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
5 minutes ago
Russian drone strike on Ukraine apartments kills several before Trump-Zelenskyy meet
LONDON -- At least seven people, including two children, were killed by a Russian drone strike in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday night, according to local officials. Serhiy Bolvinov, the head of Kharkiv National Police's investigations unit, said in a post to Facebook that five Shahed strike drones hit an apartment building at dawn. "An entire family died in an apartment on the fifth floor," Bolvinov said. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 140 drones and four missiles in the country overnight into Monday morning, of which 88 drones were shot down or suppressed. Missile and drone impacts were reported across 25 locations in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kyiv regions, the air force said. The latest attacks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to meet President Donald Trump and a host of European leaders at the White House on Monday, where Trump has said he hopes his Ukrainian counterpart will agree to a deal to end Russia's war. Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's influential chief of staff, wrote on Telegram of the latest round of strikes, "Russia continues to deliberately kill civilians." "That's why [Russian President Vladimir] Putin doesn't want to stop the fire -- he likes to shell peaceful cities and talk about wanting to end the war," Yermak wrote. "We don't see this desire yet." Both sides have continued their long-range strike campaigns throughout Trump's efforts to craft a ceasefire and peace deal to end the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. Through July, Russia launched a record 6,443 drones and missiles into Ukraine, according to data published by the Ukrainian air force, with a daily average of 201 drones and six missiles. July's monthly total was the highest of the war to date, and around 13% more than were recorded in June. At least 286 people were killed and 1,388 injured in Ukraine in July, making last month the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians since May 2022, according to data published by the United Nations' Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. So far in August, the scale of Russian strikes has diminished. As of Monday, Ukraine's air force had recorded 1,344 drone and 27 missile launches by Russia in August -- an average of around 74 drones and more than one missile per day so far this month. Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, has claimed to have shot down 1,740 Ukrainian drones so far in August, at a daily average of around 96 per day. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its forces downed at least 24 Ukrainian drones overnight into Monday.
Time Magazine
13 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Amid Icy U.S. Ties, India Warms to China
India and China's relationship is thawing as the U.S.'s ties with India chills under President Donald Trump. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is reportedly on a visit to New Delhi this week on his first trip to India in more than three years, to meet with India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. On the agenda is the possibility of reducing the number of troops on the disputed Himalayan border, which would be a significant step in improving India-China relations since a deadly 2020 border clash that froze ties for years. The regional neighbors' warming ties is happening against the backdrop of Trump in recent months targeting India, a longtime friend of the U.S. that had been seen as a buffer against the influence of China in Asia. Trump imposed a 'secondary tariff' on India as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, even as on Friday he ruled out doing the same for China, the biggest buyer of Russian oil, while Washington and Beijing engage in more trade talks. Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro attacked India's Russian oil purchases once more as 'opportunistic and deeply corrosive' in a column published in the Financial Times on Monday. 'This two-pronged policy will hit India where it hurts—its access to U.S. markets—even as it seeks to cut off the financial lifeline it has extended to Russia's war effort,' Navarro wrote. 'If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to start acting like one.' The penalty has brought U.S. tariffs on India up to a staggering 50% rate. In the meantime, the Trump Administration has pressed India on agricultural concessions in order to reach a more favorable trade deal, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to budge on. 'For the U.S., the strategic goal of keeping close ties with India is to balance China, prop up Washington's weakened global position and, at least until recently, support the crumbling U.S.-led international order,' says Ivan Lidarev, a visiting research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Institute of South Asian Studies who specializes in India-China relations. But Trump's volatile and at times punitive trade policies now appear to be pushing India towards China. Here's what to know. Trump tariffs damage U.S.-India trust Trump's strategy towards both U.S. adversaries like China and Russia as well as friends like India is 'highly personalized, driven by domestic politics, inconsistent, and short-termist,' Lidarev says. 'Nevertheless, there is a certain strategic logic,' he adds. 'The administration likely seeks to strengthen the U.S. position vis-à-vis China and secure strategic and economic gains through its Russia and India policies.' The Trump Administration's approach to India comes from a 'trade perspective,' Vivek Mishra, deputy director of the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation, tells TIME. At the center of Trump's contentions with India, Mishra says, is 'the idea that India should open its agriculture and dairy sectors,' which are politically sensitive markets. But Trump's attempts to pressure India have instead 'undermined mutual trust' between the U.S. and India, and shaken Trump's friendship with Modi, says Lidarev. 'This is not the way negotiations happen … Suddenly you have a team from the Trump Administration who have little experience in negotiations trying to enforce a certain decision,' Mishra adds. 'This is almost like a breach of strategic trust that the U.S. and India have had for a long time.' Moreover, the U.S. has also warmed relations with Pakistan after Trump claimed credit for brokering a cease-fire between New Delhi and Islamabad earlier this year. The move 'has been met with shock and indignation in India' which views Pakistan with hostility, says Lidarev, while Pakistan has long been supported by China. It also suggests that the U.S.-India relationship was already laden with 'contradictions and false expectations,' he adds, noting: 'It was unrealistic for Washington to expect that Delhi will align with it against Beijing, open fully its market to American companies and break off relations with Russia. Similarly, it was unrealistic for India to expect that U.S.'s strategic generosity toward it will continue indefinitely or that Washington will forsake developing relations with Islamabad to please Delhi.' 'The damage to the relationship will be serious but not fatal because the two sides need each other too much and have invested too heavily in their relationship to let it crumble,' says Lidarev. 'Simply put, the cost of a U.S.-India break up is too high for both sides. The recent tensions are likely to result in a more restrained but still solid and important relationship, with lower levels of trust and greater limits on how far the relationship will develop.' India-China ties warm as countries seek to diversify trade Lidarev tells TIME that India and China's relationship had already been improving over the last few years, especially as the two countries agreed to disengage militarily at their disputed border late last year. India and China are aware of the 'very high political, economic and military cost of frozen relations,' he says. 'China felt it had pushed India too close to the U.S. while India realized that it was losing its vaunted strategic autonomy by getting too close to Washington and turning Beijing into an adversary.' India and China are planning to resume direct passenger flights next month after a five year pause. And last month, Jaishankar, the external affairs minister, visited Beijing in his first trip to China since 2020. Modi is also expected to visit China at the end of August in his first trip there in seven years. The seemingly accelerated detente has been catalyzed by Trump's tariffs, which have made India and China, as well as the rest of the world, realize that they should diversify their trade. 'Both sides realized the importance of their economic relationship and the huge potential of their bilateral trade and investment in an increasingly protectionist world,' Lidarev says. The 50% U.S. tariff on India will cripple many of its sectors, while Trump has also threatened even higher sectoral tariffs, such as on pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, while China and the U.S. extended their deadline to reach a trade deal and are continuing negotiations, Beijing has courted countries across Asia, Africa, South America, and even the E.U. to develop trade ties. The Trump Administration 'likely aims to force India to align strategically and economically with the U.S. and extract economic benefits by forcefully opening the Indian market' through its 'secondary tariff' on India and its threats towards nations aligned with intergovernmental organization BRICS, Lidarev says. In so doing, the Administration hopes to use these gains as leverage in its negotiations with Beijing. India, however, has defended its Russian oil purchases, although some of the country's refiners have reportedly begun looking for alternatives. Modi's upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as meetings between Indian and Russian officials, also suggest that India is reluctant to buckle under U.S. pressure. Improved India-China ties could destabilize U.S. influence 'Much depends on how long and deep the improvement of China-India relations will be,' says Lidarev, noting that relations have several times improved temporarily before straining again soon afterwards, especially over border disputes. In the short-term, improved Sino-Indian relations could lead to friction with the Trump Administration, says Lidarev, especially at a time when Trump is trying to rebalance global trade dynamics, including between the U.S. and China, in the U.S.'s favor. But, he adds, in the long-term, it could strengthen U.S. resolve to keep India as a friend, lest it lose its buffer in Asia. 'While it will augment U.S. mistrust of India, it is likely to increase India's value as a partner and push Washington to shore up its relations with Delhi as a result of the inherent logic of the competition between China and the U.S.,' says Lidarev. 'Much of the rapprochement between the U.S. and India in the last two decades is the product of India's position as the key 'swing nation' in this competition and Washington's increasingly successful attempts to woo it to its side.' Ultimately, though, the perception of the U.S. as an unreliable partner will 'increase the international trend toward greater multipolarity,' Lidarev tells TIME. 'Not only will India's role as an independent pole less tied to the U.S. grow, but its closer relations with China, Russia, and the E.U. will strengthen these actors' positions as other major poles in the international system,' he says. Furthermore, the dynamic could legitimize emerging international institutions like BRICS 'as a hedge against dependence on Washington.' India's seemingly firm response to Trump's threats may also have signaled to China that India has not walled itself off from developing ties with U.S. adversaries, says Lidarev. 'The logic behind U.S. actions is based on the dubious proposition that the U.S. enjoys the same power position in the international system as it did in the 1990s and has decisive leverage over other powers such as India and Russia,' he says. 'In this sense, U.S. policy toward India, Russia, and China is an important test for Trump's vision of international relations and U.S. role in them. At present, the Trump administration is increasingly discovering the limits of American power.'
